Pan Arms
Pan Arms is an altered beast residing within the Caves in Episode 1 and the VR Spaceship in Episode 2. It is a pseudo crab-like enemy composed of two entities, named Hidoom and Migium, merged together. Pan Arms spawn under the floor, and will emerge either when a player steps over them or after a short period of time. It will start off in its merged state, and will shoot either a red laser which does damage or a blue cone which decreases stats. It is very slow and easy to avoid while merged, but has a very high defense stat. Pans Arms may also split up, each half now much faster but their defense stats are both significantly decreased. They will both run at the player and attempt to stab with their unsheathed photon-bladed arm. The blue-colored Migium will cause Jellen or Zalure debuffs upon stabbing the player, while the red Hidoom's stab will deal moderate damage. After a few moments of separation, they will seek each other out and merge together again. If either Hidoom or Migium is killed, its partner will stop and turn to face where its partner died and mourn their loss for a few seconds. Pan Arms has its own drops separate from Hidoom and Migium. It will not drop Pan Arms rares while it is split up, and will not drop Hidoom/Migium rares while merged. It does, however, have a shared HP pool; if the Pan Arms takes damage while it's merged, then after it splits, the Hidoom and Migium will both have fewer HP remaining. Stats: Health: Special Abilities: * Splits/Merge * Debuffs. Strategy The Pan Arms always follows the same three-step attack pattern after emerging from the floor. First it will attack with its red laser, then with its blue cone, and finally will attempt to split apart as its third action, if it can (see the note).'' This three-step pattern may be interrupted at any point by a freezing or paralyzing condition (preventing the third action split) or by reducing its health below 25% (forcing an immediate split). When the two parts join together again, it will alternate between the laser and cone attacks and may randomly choose to split apart again. ''Note: if the Pan Arms is too close to a wall, it will not split in its natural pattern. If you need it to split, try to lure it away from the wall by standing a few steps away diagonally from its mouths. Before turning to face you, it will take a couple steps sideways between each attack, which may be enough for it to move away from the wall. '' If you are a hunter or ranger, you may find it difficult to do damage to it while it is merged as its defenses are very high. If you want to kill the Pan Arms while in its merged form (for rare drops, or if you are impatient about waiting for it to split), you have multiple options. Your best option is to cast Megid or use a weapon with the Dim/Dark/Shadow/Hell ability. It is extremely easy to avoid the merged Pan Arms attacks by standing beside or behind it, so you'll have plenty of safe opportunities to bring it down. Your next best option is technique damage. It is most vulnerable to Foie techniques. Heat/Fire/Flame/Burning weapons as well as other elemental techniques also work, but their damage output is still relatively low especially in the greater difficulty settings, making it not much better than just waiting for it to split. If all else fails, raise your ATP until you can overcome its defense. One final interesting option, especially if you need it to split, is to use Devils/Demons weapon specials. If a merged Pan Arms realizes its heath is low, it will immediately separate, making this an effective way to avoid killing it accidentally in merged form. ''Note: if you are looking for a rare Migium drop, kill the Hidoom first and vice versa. This is because the split forms of the Pan Arms will not drop anything until both sides are dead, effectively meaning only the last one killed will leave a drop. This unfortunately also prevents the use of the Telepipe trick. Hidoom and Migium have practically no defense and very long recoil - that is, if you hit one with an attack, it will flinch and stand still for a much longer time than most other enemies. In addition, if you can kill one quickly enough, the other will stop chasing you and turn to grieve for its dead partner, giving you enough time to reposition yourself and target it safely. The merged Pan Arms also offers a valuable opportunity to heal with special attack weapons. Even if you do zero damage, the health-stealing and tp-stealing abilities of weapons will still work (as long as you don't get a red MISS splat), allowing you a safe and resource-efficient way to recover your lost hp/tp while you wait for the Pan Arms to split. It is possible to use exp-stealing weapons on them, too, though your mileage may vary on the efficiency of such methods. Category:Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 Monsters